The players will be younger and speaking in a variety of tongues, yet it won't make much of a difference to Barry Larkin. He will still be teaching baseball to those who want to learn, which he has been doing since he retired as a perennial All-Star shortstop after the 2004 season.

Larkin, 43, a special assistant to the general manager of the Washington Nationals, has joined the coaching staff for the third annual Major League Baseball International (MLBI) European Baseball Academy Aug. 9-30 in Tirrenia, Italy. The 12-time All-Star will be the lead infield instructor for this year's Academy at the Italian National Olympics Training Center providing Major League instruction to players from 17 countries throughout Europe and Africa.

"I'm looking forward to it because it's another example of player development, which is what I have been involved in heavily the past few years," Larkin said Wednesday while packing for his first trip to Italy. "I realize we'll be working with young people from different parts of the world, but baseball has a universal language. I don't foresee any problems communicating."

The European Baseball Academy features 55 of the top players aged 15-20 from 13 countries in Europe (Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Slovakia, Spain, the Ukraine, United Kingdom) and four African nations (Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa, Uganda). Participants were chosen by the Major League Scouting Bureau following tryouts across Europe in April.

"The European Baseball Academy provides a single location in Europe for elite ballplayers to develop their skills under expert Major League instruction and gain unprecedented exposure to talent evaluators representing MLB organizations," said Paul Archey, the senior vice president of International Business Operations for Major League Baseball. "The addition of an accomplished professional and high-quality individual like Barry Larkin enhances the profile of the Academy and strengthens what is already an enormously talented and experienced Major League coaching staff."

Larkin won three Gold Glove Awards for fielding, nine Silver Sluggers for hitting and the 1995 National League Most Valuable Player Award during a 19-season big-league career, all with the Cincinnati Reds. Those credentials just might land the .295 career hitter in the National Baseball Hall of Fame some day, but it is the future that concerns him these days, not his past.

"Player development is very important to me," Larkin said. "I like teaching players. I feel a responsibility to pass along the information I learned during my career."

Larkin, who won the Roberto Clemente Award for community service in 1993 and the Lou Gehrig Memorial Award from Phi Delta Theta Fraternity in 1994, also operates Champions Sports Complex in Orlando, Fla., an instruction center for youngsters not only in baseball but also softball, basketball, soccer and lacrosse.

Over the past two years, 13 academy alumni have signed contracts with MLB clubs, most recently French catcher Frederic Hanvi with the Twins and German outfielder Donald Lutz with the Reds. Joris Bert, an outfielder from Paris became the first academy graduate selected in the First-Year Player Draft when chosen by the Dodgers in the 19th round in June.

Larkin is part of a staff with an abundance of Major League playing, managing and coaching experience, including head coach and lead hitting instructor Jim Lefebvre, lead pitching instructor Bruce Hurst, pitching instructor Lee Smith, catching instructor Bob Didier and outfield and base running instructors John Cangelosi and German Geigel.